1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to point-to-point or point-to-multipoint wireless communications systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for maintaining an open and continuous interface for group communications, such as push-to-talk (PTT) communications, to a wireless communication device that is a member of a communication group.
2. Description of the Related Art
In cellular wireless telecommunications, there have been several standards implemented regarding the creation and functionality of the communication infrastructure. One of the more recent standards is CDMA2000, where CDMA is an abbreviation for “code division multiple access.” CDMA2000 supports a Broadcast-Multicast Service (BCMCS), which allows optimization of the radio interface for delivery of BCMCS content stream(s) to one or more wireless communication devices in one or more regions of an cellular carrier's network. The CDMA2000 protocol allows for both voice and data to be transmitted to and from wireless communication devices and determines the appropriate resource allocation for communications, both to and from the wireless telecommunication device and the radio access network (RAN), and in between communication control devices, such as base stations, packet data serving nodes (PDSN), and broadcast serving nodes (BSN).
There exists a wireless telecommunication service that provides a quick one-to-one or one-to-many communication that is generically referred to as “Push-To-Talk” (PTT) capability. The specific PTT group of recipient devices for the communicating wireless device is commonly set up by the carrier. A PTT communication connection is typically initiated by a single button-push on the wireless device that activates a half-duplex link between the speaker and each member device of the group and once the button is released, the device can receive incoming PTT transmissions once the button is released. In some arrangements, the PTT speaker will have the “floor” where no other group member can speak while the speaker is speaking. Once the speaker releases the PTT button, any other individual member of the group can engage their PTT button and they will have the floor.
It is important to have a very fast setup of the signal path of the PTT call because of the desired immediacy of the voice communication. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method to expedite PTT communication setup with a target wireless communication device given the time-sensitivity of the communication. Such system and method can advantageously utilize existing cellular network infrastructure that would otherwise have latency delays in PTT communications. It is thus to the provision of such a system and method to expedite communications with a wireless communication device that the present invention is primarily directed.